The design traces directly to Flying Buffalo, a one-off Great Lakes racer drawn by Maurice DeClercq. Cheoy Lee licensed the design for production, and the Offshore 36 became one of the yard’s most popular models. More than 1,000 hulls were reportedly built over roughly a decade beginning in 1966.
Design and Construction
Maurice DeClercq designed the Offshore 36 as a moderate fin-keel monohull with a skeg-hung rudder. Its hull differed from the Cheoy Lee norm of the period. Compared with heavier, more traditional Luders-designed Cheoy Lees, including the Offshore 47 Yawl and the Clipper series, the 36 had a lighter, more performance-oriented hull shape, with a narrower beam and finer entry.
That lineage matters. The boat began as a racer, and the production version retained a lithe, easily driven hull rather than following the stately, full-keel cruiser template. It displaces roughly 15,000 lb, carries 5,000 lb of ballast, and has a 10-foot beam and 25.8-foot waterline. Those figures describe a hull broad enough to provide accommodations but fine enough forward to slice through a sea rather than shoulder into it.
Rig and Handling
The Offshore 36 carries a masthead sloop rig, with a standard I measurement of 38.5 ft and J of 18.75 ft. Its 100% jib is about 369 sq ft, while a working genoa exceeds 485 sq ft. The sail-plan envelope also included a larger 150%-plus genoa and an asymmetrical spinnaker of nearly 984 sq ft.
Some boats were later converted to cutter rigs, a sensible cruising adaptation that the original masthead configuration did not preclude.
Under sail, the design offers decent speed for its era along with solid cruising capability. Its fine-entry hull helps make it quick in moderate conditions, though it produces a livelier offshore motion than a full-keel design. That trade-off defines the boat: crews accept a busier ride than they’d find aboard a traditional full-keeler in exchange for noticeably better responsiveness when the breeze comes up.
Accommodations and Cruising Character
The narrow, fine hull that gives the Flying Buffalo its windward edge inevitably shapes the interior. This isn’t a broad-beamed cruiser. Its 10-foot beam and performance-oriented sections required an accommodation plan built around sailing ability rather than maximum living space.
In return, the boat delivers the dual purpose implied by its cruising-racing label. It can cover ground on passage yet still feel like a thoroughbred when sheeted in for a windward beat. Its reputation as one of Cheoy Lee’s most popular models suggests that buyers readily accepted this compromise during the fiberglass boom.
Verdict
The Cheoy Lee Offshore 36 is a genuine product of sailing’s fiberglass adolescence: a racer-bred 36-footer that Cheoy Lee put into production with notable success. Its appeal lies in a hull that is lighter and finer than the yard’s more traditional designs of the period. It offers quick, responsive handling at the cost of a busier offshore motion.
For a buyer who values the feel of a responsive fin-keel sloop over the more inert comfort of a full-keel tub, the Flying Buffalo remains a coherent, well-documented choice from a prolific era of production.
Pros
- Racer-derived hull based on a licensed Great Lakes design
- Finer and lighter than contemporary Luders-designed Cheoy Lees
- More than 1,000 reportedly built; a popular, readily understood production model
- Quick in moderate conditions, with solid cruising capability
Cons
- Livelier offshore motion than full-keel designs
- Narrower beam and finer entry trade some interior volume for performance
